Predictors of Veterans Health Administration utilization and pain persistence among soldiers treated for postdeployment chronic pain in the Military Health System.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic pain presents a significant burden for both federal health care systems designed to serve combat Veterans in the United States (i.e., the Military Health System [MHS] and Veterans Health Administration [VHA]), yet there have been few studies of Veterans with chronic pain that have integrated data from both systems of care. This study examined 1) health care utilization in VHA as an enrollee (i.e., linkage to VHA) after military separation among soldiers with postdeployment chronic pain identified in the MHS, and predictors of linkage, and 2) persistence of chronic pain among those utilizing the VHA.

Methods

Observational, longitudinal study of soldiers returning from a deployment in support of the Afghanistan/Iraq conflicts in fiscal years 2008-2014. The a

SUBMITTER: Adams RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8145830 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature